Path of a True Hero
by Riku Uzumaki
Summary: What would change if Genesis wasn’t taken by Weiss and Nero after his battle with Zack? A lot would change that’s for sure! Not yaoi, sorry yaoi fans. Takes place at the end of Crisis Core and goes to the end of the original game.Zerith, Cloti,and Gensnei
1. Facing an Army

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII**

Summary: What would change if Genesis wasn't taken by Weiss and Nero after his battle with Zack? A lot would change that's for sure! Not yaoi, sorry yaoi fans.

Chapter 1

Facing down an army

"Ugh… where am I?" Genesis groaned trying to remember what happened.

"_Now I remember, I fought Zack and lost… but at least I stopped the degradation process, but what do I do now? I should probably help Zack return to Midgar… I owe him that much for what he did for me…"_ and with that, Genesis unfurled his black wing and took off.

(Weiss and Nero will not be showing up because I don't feel like having them show up)

* * *

Zack has just been cornered by the entire Shinra army, all that was left for him to do was fight his way through. Zack put Cloud down in a hidden spot and tried to wake him up one last time before standing down the entire Shinra army by himself. He only responded with a groan. _'Guess I'm doing this by myself… I'm sorry Aerith… I might not make it out of this alive…'_

After making sure Cloud was safe for the time being, Zack calmly faced the Shinra army…

"Boy oh boy… the price of freedom is steep..." Zack said placing the Buster Sword up to his forehead.

"Embrace your dreams, and… no matter what happens… protect your honor… AS SOLDIER!" Zack shouted charging the entire army. "COME AND GET IT!"

* * *

Genesis arrived at the battlefield just in time to see the carnage Zack left in the wake of his relentless charge. After taking a look around, Genesis found Zack on his knees, bloody and barely able to stand, none of his wounds were fatal but he was in no condition to fight at this point. Things only got worse when three more infantrymen showed up.

'_Looks like Zack could use some help, even a single SOLDIER 1__st__ Class would be hard pressed in a battle like this. Perhaps a second one will even the odds a little.'_

And with that, SOLDIER 1st Class Genesis Rhapsodos joined the fray.

* * *

'_This doesn't look good, come on body… MOVE! This is almost over… just three more… once this is over… I can grab Cloud and get to Midgar so I can be with Aerith again.'_

Zack slowly got up and got back into his 'ready' stance and prepared for one final charge. However, before he could start moving, a black feather floated past his face and caught his attention. Before Zack could think or say anything, he saw a bunch of symbols that reminded him of Genesis's limit break appear around the infantrymen, and then he heard a familiar voice cry out, "Howl in terror Shinra lapdogs!" lightning then shot out of the symbols killing the infantrymen instantly. Then the mysterious figure shot Firaga at the helicopters, causing them to crash and kill it's passengers and pilot instantly.

"You're just a magnet for trouble aren't you?" said the mysterious figure.

"Wait, I know that voice… didn't think… you'd actually help me out… for once… Genesis." Zack panted.

"Well it is the least I could do after what you did for me… because of you; I have redeemed myself."

"Umm… thanks?" Zack said, unsure of what Genesis just said.

"Enough talk, I believe it is time to collect your traveling companion and make our way to Midgar. That is your destination, right?" Genesis more stated than asked.

"Uh, right!" Zack said, slowly making his way back to Cloud. Unfortunately, he was too weak at the moment and collapsed and was knocked out cold as soon as he hit the ground.

'_Great… now I have two pieces of dead weight to carry around now… well, I guess that's what I get for forgetting to cast cure on him.'_

* * *

**How was it? Good? Bad? Somewhere in-between?**

**Please Review by clicking on the mystical green button that allows you to review.**


	2. AVALANCHE

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII (If I did Zack would have lived)**

Chapter 2

AVALANCHE

Genesis managed to drag Zack and Cloud into the slums undetected, which, considering how much security Shinra normally has up is considered a miracle. When the group reached the Sector 7 slums Zack started to come to.

"Ugh, I feel like I was run over by a truck…"

"Considering how many bullet holes you have in you it's a miracle you're even alive" Genesis responded.

"So I wasn't dreaming… you really did decide to help me out for once!"

"Don't get used to it"

"So where are you dragging us anyway?"

"A hospital… or at least a place where you can get some rest without Shinra killing you in your sleep"

"I'll go for choice number 2, I hate hospitals!"

* * *

After dragging Zack and Cloud a little farther, Genesis found a place that would probably fit Zack's choice.

"7th Heaven… why does that place sound familiar…" Zack pondered.

And then it dawned him, "Ah, now I remember! That's the place I named so I could borrow some wood from the carpenter that built the place!"

"What did you need the wood for?" Genesis asked.

"…Um… nothing…"

"You're not going to let me know are you?"

"Nope! Now can you please drag Cloud and me inside?"

* * *

Tifa thought that today would just be another average day, a day with Barret ranting about Shinra killing the planet, Marlene acting as cute as possible without trying, Jessie working on AVALANCHE's technology, Biggs being inconspicuous, and Wedge stuffing his face. What she didn't expect, was a childhood memory and a man she thought to be long dead being dragged into her bar by a man in a leather coat.

"Tifa? I never thought someone like you would end up working in a bar" Zack said.

"Oh… hello again Zack, I thought you died a long time ago"

"No I'm too stubborn and pretty to die"

"Zack… is-is that…" Tifa stuttered while looking at Cloud.

"Cloud? Yes" Zack said from a seat Genesis put him in since he was still too weak to move.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Mako addiction, severe case, I'm amazed he's even still alive, we came to Midgar hoping to find someone to treat him"

While Tifa and Zack were having their conversation, Genesis plopped Cloud down on a bar stool near Tifa.

"How did that happen?" Tifa asked.

"After we barely beat Sephiroth, Hojo showed up and decided that we would make great lab rats. After we escaped, 5 years later, I got gunned down by Shinra's army on the outskirts of Midgar, putting me in the condition I am now. If Genesis didn't show up when he did, I would probably be dead."

"Hmmm, so you're not a friend of Shinra anymore aren't you?" a voice asked from out of nowhere.

"Gah!" Zack cried out and fell out of his chair at the same time. "Where did you come from?!"

"The name's Barret, I'm the leader of AVALANCHE, I can tell just by looking at all 3 of you that you at least USED to be in SOLDIER. If you're looking for a job, you're welcome to join, we could use all the help we can get right now."

"I think I've heard of you before… aren't you that group of protesters that are against the use of Mako?" Genesis asked.

"We are, we're actually planning on making our demands a lot clearer next week by blowing up Mako reactor 1."

"Isn't that a bit extreme?" Zack asked, somehow getting back into his chair.

"Well we can't do nothing either, verbal protests will get us nowhere with Shinra! And there is no way we're just going to sit back and watch Shinra kill the planet by sucking all the Mako out of it either! We have to do something now and this is the only way!"

"This does seem to be the easiest way to deal with Shinra right now… alright, I'll help you out for the time being" Genesis said.

"I'll help out too… when I'm back on my feet that is" Zack said a little sheepishly.

"I'll get Biggs to take a look at you… I should probably let him take a look at Spiky over there too"

"Please do, Cloud's probably the only thing from my past I have left…" Tifa said a little desperately.

"Alright, we'll do what we can Tifa" Barret said in a softer voice that seemed out of character.

"What are your names anyway, I should get to know the names of my newest recruits" Barret said in a more authoritive tone.

"Zack Fair, ex-SOLDIER 1st Class"

"You might have heard of me, but I'll tell you anyway; Genesis Rhapsodos, also ex-SOLDIER 1st Class"

"And that's Cloud, he used to be a Shinra infantryman that was experimented on, once he's back on his feet… I'm guessing that he'll be almost as strong as your average SOLDIER at least" Zack said since Cloud was only capable of moaning at the time.

"_So, I guess he never made it into SOLDIER after all…"_ Tifa thought.

"HA! This is great, with this new addition to AVALANCHE, Shinra won't last long now!" Barret said.

* * *

1 week passed and Zack was finally back on his feet. Cloud also showed signs of improvement, and he would probably be out of his comatose state soon (This made Tifa happy). He was planning on seeing Aerith again except there was one problem… he could not remember where the hell her church was! All Zack could remember was that she lived in the Sector 5 slums.

'_Damn Hojo… all that experimenting you did on me probably messed with my memory, Cloud's memory will probably be a train wreak when he wakes up'_ Zack thought angrily.

Then Barret walked in.

"Oh, there you are… Zack was it?"

"Yeah, what is it Barret?"

"Jessie just found out that Mako reactor 1's security will be at its weakest tonight so I suggest you get that big-ass sword of yours ready"

"Thanks for telling me", _'Well, at least this'll be something to distract me for a while'_

* * *

**Conflict Resolved**

**(End of Chapter 2)**

**Please Review**


	3. Mako Reactors

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII**

**I would also like to add that Aerith will be making her debut in this chapter but will not be reunited (consciously) with Zack until next chapter.**

Chapter 3 Mako Reactors

The train headed for Sector 1 was a mere 2 minutes away from entering the Sector 1 train station. However, all was not peaceful as there were Shinra guards on the top of the train attempting to capture a "terrorist" and failing miserably at it too. The "terrorist" was wearing what your average SOLDIER 1st Class would wear with the exception of a few adjustments. He still wore the black boots, baggy black pants, and black sleeveless turtleneck sweater. The difference was that he only had a single shoulder guard on his right shoulder while his left shoulder was unguarded, and his belt had the Shinra symbol slashed through to show that he was no longer loyal to Shinra (I chose to make the symbolism here similar to that of rouge ninja in Naruto). The "terrorist" is none other than ex-SOLDIER 1st Class Zack Fair and he was having a field day cutting down the Shinra guards without getting so much as a scratch on him.

When the train came to a stop, Zack jumped off the roof and landed right in front of 3 more guards that were determined to stand in his way.

'_These guys just never learn do they?'_Zack thought as he disposed of the first guard with a powerful haymaker of a punch to the head and electrocuted the other 2 with his Thundaga materia.

Once he was sure that there were no more guards in the area, Zack took off in the direction of the Mako reactor.

* * *

Genesis was the first one to reach the reactor since he was the only one capable of flight. Like Zack, Genesis didn't look much different either, his auburn hair no longer had white streaks since the degradation process was stopped, his red leather jacket had a few cuts in it but other than that remained unchanged. He still wore his black shirt, pants, and boots as well, the only thing that was truly different about his outfit was that his belt with the Shinra emblem on it had a slash across it showing that he was not loyal to Shinra anymore.

"About time you showed up" Genesis said when he saw Zack approaching the reactor.

"Well not all of us have wings protruding from our backs you know" Zack retorted.

Genesis ignored Zack's comment and turned around to notice Jessie, Biggs, Wedge, and Barret show up, each from different directions.

"Leave it to the ex-SOLDIERs to show up ahead of time" Wedge joked.

"We've wasted enough time! Let's get moving before more of Shinra's guards show up!" Barret yelled out.

'_With all of his yelling I wouldn't be surprised if Shinra already knew where we are'_ Genesis thought smugly.

After the short exchange of words, the group split up into smaller groups, Biggs and Wedge guarded the entrance, while Jessie unlocked the doors, and Barret, Genesis, and Zack dealt with the guards. Once they reached the reactor core, Jessie set the bomb to go off in 15 minutes, giving them plenty of time to escape.

Or so they thought, after the group split up again and were told to meet up at the train station. Genesis ran into a Guard Scorpion.

"Tch, I don't have time for this so let's make this quick" Genesis told the mechanical monster.

The Guard Scorpion responded by firing a laser beam from its stinger, barely missing Genesis. Genesis responded by slashing the Scorpion's tail off and then followed up with a shot of Firaga. However, the metallic monster wasn't done yet, it tried to cut the ex-SOLDIER in half with its pincers, but it was too slow to catch Genesis and was rewarded by having its central processor impaled by Genesis's rapier, shutting it down instantly.

"I don't have much time left, it's a good thing I can fly out from this point" Genesis said to himself unaware of just how much time he really had left (20 seconds).

Within the last few seconds of the time limit, Genesis managed to barely escape the blast radius. However, the shockwave was close and strong enough to knock him out of the sky.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Back at the bar, a certain blond haired man that had his hair spiked up in the form of a chocobo's rear end was finally waking up from his 5 year slumber.

Marlene, who was watching him at the time was excited by this and immediately ran downstairs to tell Tifa.

"Tifa!" Marlene called out still running with the boundless energy of a child.

"Hm? What is it Marlene?" Tifa asked.

"It's that guy who's been sleeping all this time, he's waking up!" Marlene said brimming with excitement.

"Really?!"

"Yeah! Let's go!" with that, Marlene grabbed Tifa's hand and dragged her upstairs to the room Cloud was in.

"Ungguh" Cloud moaned as he slowly opened his eyes and got up sluggishly, or at least tried to until a gentle hand pushed him back down.

"Take it easy Cloud, you just got out of a mako induced coma"

"T-Tifa?" Cloud asked sluggishly.

"That's my name, don't wear it out!" Tifa joked in an attempt to de-tensify the atmosphere.

"What happened? How did I get here the last thing I remember…" Cloud gasped, "Sephiroth!"

"It's alright Cloud, take it easy, Sephiroth is gone, Zack told me what happened in Nibelhiem and that you never made it into SOLDIER either" Tifa explained.

"What are you talking about? I vaguely remember what happened in Nibelhiem, but I remember making it into SOLDIER…"

"Cloud, there were only two SOLDIER members in Nibelhiem that day and you weren't one of them, here, I still have the picture that was taken during the mission" Tifa handed Cloud the picture.

"What?" Cloud gasped in disbelief, "I don't understand I remember everything, including the reactor, why is this person in my place?!"

"The person in your place in the picture is your friend Zack, don't you remember him? I also remember him saying that your memory probably would be a train wreck because of the case of mako addiction you were suffering from, I guess he was right" Tifa said wistfully.

Cloud took a while to absorb all this in and did what he could to remember what really happened.

* * *

Genesis landed in a rather ungraceful manner that involved him tripping over his own feet and landing face-first in a district that was still lit.

'_Angeal would be laughing his ass off right now if he saw that…' _Genesis thought to himself, unaware that someone saw the landing and was more worried for him than amused by the landing.

"Are you alright?" a female voice asked.

Genesis got up and turned around to noticed the voice came from an auburn haired woman that had her hair held up in a braided ponytail by a pink bow. She was also wearing a pink dress and a red denim jacket and was carrying a basket full of flowers (anyone who has played Final Fantasy VII already knows who this is).

"I'm alright, just barely managed to escape Mako Reactor 1's explosion"

"Wait, you were one of the ones that blew it up?!" the woman asked astonished.

"Yes, by the way, where did you get those flowers? Things like those are very hard to find in Midgar" Genesis asked to change the subject.

"Oh, I actually grew them myself at my private church in the slums, the only place they grow are there and around my house"

"Hmm, I wouldn't expect something as delicate as a flower to grow in a place as harsh as the slums" Genesis said thoughtfully, trying to remember where he heard this before.

"I'm actually selling these to make some money and brighten up Midgar at the same time… a… 'friend' of mine came up with the idea and I liked it" she avoided saying who the person was since it was a sensitive/painful subject for her. "So, would you like to buy one? They're only one gil per flower" she said.

After she talked about the flowers, it finally dawned Genesis who she was _'she's the one Zack is looking for 'Aerith' is her name if I'm not mistaken_.'

"You're 'her'" Genesis said in a slightly knowing voice.

"I'm who?" Aerith asked with a little bit of fear in her voice.

"You're the person he's been talking about all this time, the person he's been looking for" Genesis said thoughtfully.

'_Is he talking about Zack?! How does he know him? How is he? Why has he been away for so long?'_ Aerith's mind continued to ask questions similar to these and worked a mile a minute after hearing what Genesis just said.

Genesis then heard the sound of Shinra troops trying to find the ones who blew up the reactor and knew that it was time to go.

"As much as I have enjoyed this conversation, I'm afraid our time must be cut short, I suggest you leave the area or Shinra troops may take you in for questioning" Genesis said preparing to leave.

"Wait! Who are you and how do you know Zack?!" Aerith called out desperately.

"Monsters have no names…" Genesis said ominously while revealing his black wing and taking off.

"Wait!" Aerith called out and reached for him desperately hoping to get some answers, but it was too late, Genesis was gone and only left behind a few black feathers. Taking Genesis's advice, Aerith vacated the area to avoid being caught by Shinra troops.

* * *

"Dammit! Where is he?" Barret yelled out in frustration.

Genesis hasn't shown up yet and the group is now walking back to the 7th Heaven bar and Barret was getting a little worried (although he would never admit it to himself or anybody else).

And then Genesis descended from the sky with his wing outstretched and landed gracefully on the ground.

"So, did anyone miss me?" Genesis asked.

"What, you were gone?" Zack asked playfully.

"Let's get going already! We may be in the clear now, but I'm not taking any chances until we're back at the base!" Barret said impatiently, refusing to admit that he was worried.

Everyone followed him without a word, however, that didn't stop Zack and Genesis from wearing smug looks on their faces.

* * *

Cloud spent the rest of the night trying to remember what really happened at Nibelhiem and what happened to Zack and him after the Sephiroth incident and was slowly but surely succeeding.

He finally remembered what really happened at Nibelhiem and was now working on what happened while he was suffering from mako addiction.

(Cloud's mindscape)

"_Hands off!"_

_Gunshots_

_The sound of a motorcycle_

"_The S-cells are the bringers of life, the Gift of the Goddess"_

"_Just one sample!"_

"_Not gonna happen!"_

"_Even if the morrow is barren of promises… nothing shall forestall, my return"_

"_By the way, what's your dream Zack?"_

"_To become a hero!"_

"_Heh, unattainable dreams are the best kind…"_

"_WHAT DO YOU MEAN FINAL?!"_

"_I'm just kidding… I'd never leave you behind"_

"_We'll open up a business that does everything!"_

_Gunshot_

"_Cloud! Run!"_

_Cloud sees Zack walk off to face an army while Cloud futilely reaches out to try and stop him_

"_Good to know you're on our side now Genesis…"_

"_What a drag…" (in another universe, a chronically lazy ninja sneezed)_

(Exit Mindscape)

* * *

"We're ba~ack" Zack said in a sing-song like voice.

"Good to know you're all in one piece" Tifa said, "Oh, and look who's finally up, you were right, when he woke up his memory really was a train wreck… but it looks like he's almost got

"Actually, I just finished…"

"Good to see you're finally up!" Zack said.

"Good to be up, being in a 5 year long coma was not fun at all…" Cloud said.

"I know how you feel, at least for the 5 years of unconsciousness… so, is your memory ok?"

"Yeah, at first I-I thought that I was you and my memories put me in your place during the Nibelhiem incident, but after Tifa filled in the blanks and told me about my case of mako addiction… I started putting the pieces back where they belong"

"Well, at least you no longer think that you're me, that would be freaky and you would probably suffer from a psychological meltdown if you saw me"

"Maybe I would have…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't get all depressed on me now! We just got you back and by all means…" Zack got a smug look on his face that Cloud didn't like at all, "it looks like your dream girl doesn't care at all that you didn't make it into SOLDIER"

"ZACK! It's not like that!" Cloud yelled out in retaliation while blushing profusely.

"Suuuure" _'it's sooo like that…'_

* * *

The next day by a secret entrance to Mako Reactor 5

"You guys jus' go on ahead… I'll…. Um… guard the… uh... pothole…" Barret said fully believing that he wouldn't fit through the 'secret entrance' that Jessie found.

"C'mon Barret, if we could fit Wedge through, I'm pretty sure we can squeeze you through too" Zack said.

"No, I won't do it" but clearly, Barret had no say in the matter because Cloud and Zack both grabbed his arms and shoved him down the pothole and after a minute of shoving and cursing, Barret landed with a thud on the other side.

"You… I hate you both so much right now you little sons of bi*****!" Barret cursed.

Zack just smiled and moved on while Cloud just looked down and shrugged off the comment.

Once the infiltration of Mako Reactor 5 was successful, Zack found Genesis taking a walk down memory lane.

"Brings back a few memories doesn't it" Genesis said.

"Yeah… this is when I started to try and convince Angeal that he wasn't a monster, didn't have much luck with that though…" Zack said.

"We should keep moving, no point on dwelling on the past" Genesis said.

"Yeah…"

After the bomb was planted and the group took off for the exit, however, the group didn't run into any resistance at all, and that's what worried both Zack and Genesis.

'_Something's wrong… this is a little too easy… that can only mean… it's a trap!_' both Genesis and Zack thought simultaneously, but before they could warn anyone they opened the last door before the exit and ran into the last person they wanted to run into at that moment.

President Shinra

"So… you must be that… sorry but what are you again?"

"We're AVALANCE you ignorant f***" Barret yelled out in fury.

"Hn, long time no see, Mr. President" Zack said

"Hm? Long time no see? Am I supposed to know you?"

"It's ex-SOLDIER 1st Class Zack Fair!"

"Oh, right, you were that SOLDIER that was sent on that mission to Nibelhiem with Sephiroth. I apologize for not remembering your name but unless you become as famous as Angeal, Genesis, or Sephiroth then you're really not worth my time remembering"

"Well at least you'll be able to recognize me" Genesis said revealing himself.

"G-Genesis?! Why are you still alive? You're supposed to be dead!" the President Shinra yelled in disbelief.

"You seem to forget my favorite line in the epic LOVELESS… 'Even if the morrow is barren of promises… nothing shall forestall… my return'"

"Then I'll just have to make sure that tomorrow has plenty of promises… for your funeral!"

Then two metallic monsters landed on the catwalk in front of AVALANCHE.

"Meet 'Airbuster' and 'Terrabuster' the newest techno-soldiers developed by our Weapons Development Department, I hope you enjoy your final battle" President Shinra said ominously as he took off in his helicopter.

"You're not escaping that easily!" Genesis yelled as he took off after Shinra. Only to have 'Airbuster' get in his was and divert his attention.

(The fights will occur simultaneously)

_Genesis vs. 'Airbuster' _

"You're in my way" Genesis said while knocking 'Airbuster' onto the catwalk and going after his new target.

Genesis raised his sword in the air with his right arm and ran his left hand across the runes on it, activating them and enveloping the blade with white fire.

"Hm, this shouldn't take too long…" Genesis said, confident in his ability.

'Airbuster' opened fire on Genesis but only hit air. Genesis activated one of his special limit breaks at this point.

"Game Over… Mystic Swords!" (One of Genesis's attacks during the final battle with him in Crisis Core, it's not an actual limit break but let's treat it like one anyway since it's not a materia ability) after calling out his limit break, six swords of light appeared around 'Airbuster' and impaled it before disappearing.

"Tch! He got away" Genesis said looking upwards.

_Zack, Barret, Tifa, and Cloud vs. 'Terrabuster'_

Barret ordered Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge to get the exit opened while he pumped 'Terrabuster' full of lead while Cloud shot his limit break 'Blade beam' at it as well. Once Barret ceased his barrage, Tifa pounded its face in with her bare hands, and once she was out of the way Zack unleashed his own limit break, 'Chain Slash.'

When it looked like the job was done, everyone took off for the exit with Zack bringing up the rear (I know you're anticipating something but just be patient).

Then Genesis spoke up, "I'll go on ahead and see if President Shinra is still close enough for me to take down"

Genesis was clearly still fuming at missing his missed chance at killing Shinra and took off.

Once Genesis was out of sight, 'Airbuster' and 'Terrabuster' did something nobody expected… they self-destructed and took a large bit of the catwalk with them.

Everyone was already far enough away to not be caught in the blast, Zack excluded because when the smoke cleared, Zack was barely hanging onto a random bit of metal protruding from what was left of the catwalk.

"Zack!" Cloud called out in fear for his friend's life. Cloud reached for Zack's hand but couldn't reach.

"It's no good, none of you have arms long enough to reach me, get out of here I'll be alright!" Zack said.

"Are you crazy! You'll be falling from an insane height! There's no way you'll survive a fall like that!" Tifa cried out.

"Actually, I fell from this reactor before and lived to tell about it. See that hole up there…" Zack pointed to a ventilation shaft in the ceiling. "I fell through there last time I was here and if my suspicions are correct, I'll be paying my hopefully-still-girlfriend a visit by landing on her flowerbed… so if you excuse me-" Zack said loosening his grip.

"Zack! Wait!" Cloud cried out in worry.

"I have a little bit of Déjà vu to experience" Zack continued.

Zack closed his eyes, let go of the metal protrusion, and cried out in his mind, _'Aerith, I'm on my way, you won't have to wait any longer for my return'_

And with that last thought, Zack blacked out from the sheer speed of his descent.

* * *

Aerith was tending to her flowers when she looked up at the recently repaired roof and sighed.

'_I've been thinking about Zack nonstop and its only gotten worse after I ran into that guy with the red jacket that said he knew Zack. He said that Zack's looking for me, but why hasn't he shown up yet?'_Aerith asked herself.

'_We were so close… I could almost say that I loved him… maybe I still do… but… I'm not sure if I can wait for him any longer. 5 years is such a long time and I miss him so much.'_

Aerith got up and headed for the door but stopped as if she felt a presence approaching.

'_Just one more day… if he doesn't show up by then… then it's time to move on.'_Aerith told herself.

Aerith was about to open the door and leave her church when she heard something she hasn't heard in 6 years. The sound of an unconscious body breaking her roof and landing on her flowerbed, Aerith turned around and saw the very person that was haunting her thoughts all this time.

Aerith stood there in shock for a few seconds before she could finally think properly and only uttered one word in stuttered surprise"

"Z-Zack?"

* * *

**And now, I shall leave you with a cliffhanger. **

**Also, I would like to congratulate myself because this is officially. The longest chapter I have ever written to date so far so could I please get a round of applause.**

***Clapping and cheering***

**Stop it, Stop it, please you're all too kind**

**Please review**


	4. A Flower Blooming in the Slums

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, never have, never will (Damn…)**

**Sorry about the wait, I'll update whenever I can.**

**This chapter is named after Aerith's theme in Crisis Core for those who haven't noticed that already.**

Chapter 4

A Flower Blooming in the Slums

Previously on Path of a True Hero…

'_Just one more day… if he doesn't show up by then… then it's time to move on.'_ Aerith told herself.

Aerith was about to open the door and leave her church when she heard something she hasn't heard in 6 years. The sound of an unconscious body breaking her roof and landing on her flowerbed, Aerith turned around and saw the very person that was haunting her thoughts all this time.

Aerith stood there in shock for a few seconds before she could finally think properly and only uttered one word in stuttered surprise

"Z-Zack?"

* * *

Now…

Aerith walked over to Zack's prone body, which was in the exact same place it was last time he crashed through her roof.

"I should wake him up if I'm going to interrogate him on why he's been gone for so long…" Aerith said to herself.

"Ughhh…" Zack moaned, starting to regain consciousness.

'_I suppose I should wake him up now, but how… I suppose I suppose I'll just have to do the same thing I did last time…' _Aerith thought.

"_Hellooo…"_

'_Here we go again…'_ Zack thought.

Zack was now fully aware of his surroundings again but kept his eyes shut because he wanted to delay the déjà vu he was about to experience for as long as possible.

"Helloooooo… come on Zack get up already! I know your awake now!"

"I'm gonna experience déjà vu if I get up won't I?" Zack moaned.

"Yep! Now get up so I can interrogate you on why you've been gone for so long!" Aerith commanded in a pretend angry voice.

"Alright…" Zack groaned, not entirely thrilled that he had to re-experience falling through Aerith's church roof again. However, he didn't mind the fact that he got to see Aerith again.

Zack opened his eyes, got up, and saw the most beautiful thing he ever saw since the last time he saw Aerith.

He saw an older, more mature Aerith wearing a pink dress, _'She actually took my advice and wore pink!'_

"Okay, now that you're up, can you get off of my flowers Zack?"

"Oh! Right… sorry for crash landing on your flowers again"

"It's alright; these flowers are a lot more resilient than the ones you landed on last time"

Once Zack was away from the flowerbed, Aerith became completely serious and began her interrogation.

"Sooo, Zack, will you tell me where you've been all this time, and why you broke my roof… again?" Aerith asked with a face that clearly says 'tell me the truth or you will regret it.'

"Okay, I'll tell you, but it's not a story I plan on telling often. I suppose this all started right after you called me at Nibelhiem…"

Zack continued his story about the reactor, Sephiroth's descent into madness, his and Cloud's capture, the escape, the showdown with Genesis, his battle against Shinra's army, joining AVALANCHE, and both mako reactors.

"So, let me get this straight… while I was worrying about you for the past 5 years, you were sleeping?" Aerith joked in mock outrage.

"What? That's not what I meant!" Zack attempted at appeasing her.

"It's alright, I understand… wow… I never thought it was possible for me to actually hate something."

"What do you mean?" Zack asked.

"I usually find it impossible to hate something… but after hearing what Shinra did to you… I hate it! I hate Shinra so much that I would be glad to see it burn to the ground!" Aerith started to tremble with both rage and shock, _'Did I… just say all that?!'_

"Aerith…" Zack said while holding her in an attempt to console her.

"I-I'm alright now Zack, thanks for calming me down"

"So, do you forgive me?" Zack asked.

"There's nothing to forgive, it's all Shinra's fault after all" Aerith responded.

"What's Shinra's fault" a voice drawled lazily while the church doors opened.

"Tch, so the Turks are being sent after me again? I though Shinra gave up after I wiped out an entire platoon of its army" Zack said, visibly annoyed.

"No, actually we didn't even know where in Midgar you were until just now, we're here for the girl" Reno said.

"And what do you want with Aerith, Reno?" Zack said impatiently.

"I don't know what Shinra wants with her, all I know is that we've been ordered to capture her and we'll do just that" Reno said.

"Over my dead body!" Zack said furiously.

"That can be arranged" Reno countered.

"Not by you though, it's gonna take more than a Turk and two guards to take me down" Zack said confidently, "Aerith, find a safe place to hide, I'll deal with them."

"I'm not leaving you again Zack, I can fight too!" Aerith said, grabbing a metal rod from a pew.

"How good are you with that?" Zack asked.

"This isn't the first time Shinra sent its guards after me, whenever it was just people like those two, I managed to beat them unconscious, but this is the first time a Turk was sent after me, they must be getting desperate" Aerith explained.

"What I'm wondering is why the Turks are being sent after you at all, weren't they supposed to be guarding you?"

"That was until I became 21 a few months ago, I'll explain later, we should deal with these Shinra cronies first" Aerith said.

"Alright then, this clearly has something to do with you being an Ancient, but that can wait until later"

*Gasp* "How did you know about that Zack?" Aerith said in a surprised way.

"Just like you, I'll explain later, right now, we have to teach some Shinra lapdogs a lesson" Zack said.

"Right!"

The fight was rather uneventful. Aerith knocked the first guard out with a well placed rod to the head, and since the guards were trying to take her alive, they couldn't use guns, so they had to use their guard batons instead, and due to the longer reach of Aerith's rod, she had the advantage every time. So the second guard went down in a similar fashion.

Zack's fight with Reno didn't last long either, Reno tried to prod Zack with his EMR stick, which didn't end well because Zack was a lot faster and dodged every attack Reno made. After a few attacks, Zack decided to end it by electrocuting Reno mercilessly with Thundaga, and while Reno was stunned, Zack gave him a brutal punch to the gut, knocking him out cold.

"I didn't even have to use my sword" Zack said out loud.

"Let's go Zack, before they wake up" Aerith suggested.

"Okay then, but where are we going to go?" Zack asked.

"My place of course, Mom's going to be thrilled to know that you're alright!"

"Yeah, thrilled" Zack said with grim sarcasm.

* * *

Elmyra was at the dinner table, thinking about all sorts of things as usual. The topic that she's on now is the most frequent topic for the past 5 years.

How to break Zack's death to Aerith.

When the media announced the 'Nibelhiem tragedy', Aerith was at her church at the time so she never heard, but Elmyra did and it left her in a state of stunned sadness, making her suffer from flashbacks of hearing the report of her husband's death until she heard Aerith open the front door. When she noticed that Aerith was as cheerful as always, she knew that Aerith didn't hear the announcement, and inside, she was glad because she wouldn't have to see the look of heartbreak in Aerith's eyes. But lately, Aerith has been writing letters to him, a grand total of 89 letters so far, none of them ever returned. Why would they be? The recipient died after all…

Elmyra approved of Zack when he was around; she knew that he would protect Aerith. The only problem was that he seemed like a bit of a ladies' man at first, but once she got to know him a bit, and the fact that he was around for a full year before he died. Elmyra knew that he wouldn't leave Aerith intentionally, especially since she occasionally saw Zack look at Aerith the same way her dead husband used to look at her, and she knew that Aerith loved Zack and she didn't want to put her through what she had to endure.

However, after seeing her write 89 letters was too much, Elmyra decided that enough was enough, and she had to tell Aerith what happened to Zack when she got home.

* * *

Zack dreaded the entire trip to Aerith's house, every minute spent walking was also spent running through a possible, and occasionally impossible scenario of what will happen when he meets Elmyra again.

"And here we are, home at last" Aerith said in an exaggerated way with her arms outstretched.

"Great… now all I have to worry about is facing an angry mother…" Zack thought out loud.

"Zack Fair, you took on Sephiroth and lived, survived the worst of Shinra's labs, dodged Shinra for months, took on an army and won, and blew up two mako reactors, and you're afraid of one middle aged woman?" Aerith asked jokingly.

"Yes, yes I am" Zack said flatly.

Aerith rolled her eyes at that, "Oh, come on already you big baby!"

Aerith then grabbed Zack's wrist and dragged him to her house. Aerith opened the door and shouted out, "Mom, I'm home! And guess who's with me right now!" Aerith giggled while Zack rolled his eyes, just wanting to get this over with.

"I'll be there in a minute" Elmyra said, _'I guess It's now or never…'_

Elmyra entered the living room and froze at what she saw. She rubbed her eyes and looked again to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. What she saw was Zack Fair, the very person that supposedly 'died' 5 years ago.

Zack noticed the look Elmyra was giving him and decided to speak up.

"Is everything alright Mrs. Gainsborough? You look like you've seen a ghost" Zack said.

"That's because I'm pretty sure I'm looking at one" Elmyra said.

"Well, you're not" Zack said.

"You do know that you have a lot of explaining to do right?"

"I know, and Aerith has to explain why Shinra is after her" Zack said.

"And you have to explain why you thought Zack was dead" Aerith said.

"Looks like we all have some explaining to do…" Elmyra said.

'_This is turning out better than I thought it would"_ Zack thought.

* * *

And so, everyone explained their stories after sitting down around the kitchen table, Zack explained his imprisonment and escape, plus the Turk Cissnei telling him about Aerith's heritage, Elmyra explained the media's announcement and her not wanting to break Aerith's heart, and Aerith explaining that Shinra wants her for her powers as an Ancient and that they were only guarding her until her powers matured.

"Okay, now that there are no more secrets between all of us, I think it's time to turn in, it's after midnight now and I'm tired" Aerith yawned.

"I agree… dibs on the couch!" Zack said with surprising energy.

"What, you don't want the guest room Zack?" Elmyra asked.

"Okay, I change my mind, dibs on the guest room… by the way… where is the guest room?"

Elmyra and Aerith laughed and giggled at Zack's antics, once the laughter died down, they instructed Zack to the guest room (I don't know if Aerith's house has a guest room or not due to the fact that I have not played the original Final Fantasy VII game and therefore, have no way of knowing).

Once Aerith left, Elmyra stayed because she had something to tell Zack.

"Zack…"

"Huh? What is it Mrs. Gainsborough?" Zack asked.

"I think it would be a good idea if you and Aerith leave tomorrow morning"

"Where did this come from all of a sudden?"

"Think about it, both you and Aerith are being hunted by Shinra right now, and since you're a part of AVALANHCE right now, then their headquarters is probably the safest place to hide from Shinra in Midgar right now" Elmyra explained.

"You have a good point right there… alright, I'll do it"

"Thank you"

"Now if you excuse me, I have to get some sleep if I'm gonna wake up early"

"Of course, goodnight Zack"

"'Night!"

* * *

The next morning, Zack and Aerith did as they were instructed and were now navigating through the train graveyard.

"Ugh, I've always hated this place! It's almost impossible to navigate through it! It should be called the maze of trains instead of the train graveyard!" Zack complained.

Aerith giggled at Zack's antics which immediately caused him to calm down.

Zack looked at her softly and fondly thought, _'I might be lost in an endless maze of trains from the pits of hell, but as long as Aerith is with me, I wouldn't have it any other way…'_

"Lost are we?" a voice said from atop a random train.

Zack recognized the voice as Genesis's and without looking said with lots of sarcasm, "oh no, we're not lost, we're just taking stroll through this maze of trains in a pattern that's most likely circular, OF COURSE WE'RE LOST!" Zack yelled the last part at Genesis.

Aerith recognized Genesis as the person that crash landed after Mako Reactor 1 blew up, "Hey, you're the guy that crash landed in front of me after Mako Reactor 1 blew up, do you think you can guide us out of here since you can fly?"

"I suppose so, just ask and you shall receive" Genesis said.

* * *

Once they managed to get out of the supposedly endless maze of trains forged from the pits of hell, the group found themselves at the playground Zack and Aerith spent their first date at.

"This brings back memories…" Zack said.

"I know…" Aerith replied, leaning closer to Zack.

After a minute of mentally walking down memory lane, both of their faces were an inch apart. However, before they could progress any further Genesis saw it fit to interrupt.

"As much as I enjoyed watching your little love fest, a Chocobo-drawn carriage just went by and it looked like Tifa was in there"

Zack and Aerith immediately broke apart, blushing profusely, Zack was the first one to regain his composure to respond.

"Tifa? What's she doing in there? I remember that the only person in the slums that owns something like a Chocobo-drawn carriage is Don Corneo" Zack said.

"Who's Tifa?" Aerith asked.

"Tifa is a member of AVALANCHE, what I'm wondering is what she's doing with a character like Don Corneo…" Zack explained.

"I heard that Don Corneo is looking for a wife and gathers 3 women each day and then chooses which one he wants to take to his… personal chambers… some of them actually come willingly, just to escape the slums" Aerith said.

"Tifa isn't one to be captured easily, and she didn't look beaten up at all, she also isn't the type of girl to whore herself out like that. The reason she could possibly be going in there is because the Don must have information vital to Shinra that AVALANCE needs" Genesis explained.

Just then, Cloud came by huffing and puffing as if he ran a marathon.

"Whoa, easy Cloud, where's the fire?" Zack said.

"Tifa's gone, she said that she was going to Don Corneo's to get some information out of him because she saw one of his men talking about a man with a gun-arm, which means one of them has to know about Barret-"

"Which means, one of them must know where AVALANCE is located" Genesis finished.

"Yes, but I can't believe that she would just go like that without any kind of backup! She could have at least taken Jessie with her! One of us has to go in after her!"

"I'll go" Aerith offered.

"Not by yourself you're not! There is no way I'm gonna let you near Don Corneo without some form of protection" Zack said.

Aerith huffed, there were times when she enjoyed Zack being protective of her because it made her feel loved, but at times like now, she just found it annoying.

Then Aerith got an idea, it was brilliant, not to mention that she would get a big laugh out of it too. She had to hold her hands over her mouth to prevent from breaking out in giggles. Zack noticed this and decided to ask.

"Is everything alright Aerith?"

"Yep! In fact, I figured out a way to get two of us in there since it's obvious that you won't let me go in there alone."

"Really? So what's the plan?" Genesis asked, intrigued by what sort of plan the flower girl cooked up.

"Since only girls are allowed in there, and Zack isn't going to let me go in there alone, one of you will have to dress like a girl" Aerith said smirking, barely managing to hold back her laughter.

All three men collectively had their jaws hit the ground in shock with their eyes bulging out of their heads at the size of dinner plates, shocked by what she just said.

All three protested ferociously until they each started arguing over who will have to suck it up and just go.

Zack claimed that as much as he may want to protect Aerith, there is no way in hell he would wear a dress and high heels.

Cloud said that as much as he wants to help Tifa, there is no way he will ever dress like a girl.

Genesis protested saying that he has no attachment to either girl and said that one of the other two should be going.

Aerith, once she stopped laughing hysterically at the boys' antics, decided to come up with a solution to their little dilemma.

"Okay, I have a solution to this" Aerith said.

"What is it?" Cloud said, hoping he can use it to escape wearing a dress.

"All three of you will have to do a three way rock-paper-scissors match, and the loser has to dress like a girl and come with me, also, I'll be the judge so what I say goes, is all this agreeable?" Aerith suggested.

All three men agreed.

"Okay then let's start" Aerith said.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot!" all three men said at the same time.

* * *

**And I'll leave you all hanging right there!**

**I'm going to leave a poll on my profile page to have you all decide who has to dress as a woman, so please do that, the poll will end next Sunday.**

**Please review**


	5. What Happens in Wall Market

**The Wall Market chapter is now up as promised!**

**Who will wear a dress?**

**Who will the Don choose?**

**Who will give me a can of Dr. Pepper?**

**Find the first two out as you read; BTW I do not own Final Fantasy VII**

**If you want to know who will be stuck in a dress, you will find out in 5… 4 … 3… 2…1… and BEGIN!**

Chapter 5

What Happens in Wall Market, Stays in Wall Market

All three hands fell at the same time, Zack and Cloud had Rock, and Genesis chose… Scissors.

'_Oh no… Oh HELL no'_ were the only thoughts going through Genesis's head while his face was completely comical. His eyes were the size of dinner plates, and his jaw was resting on the ground..

"Well, Genesis lost; let's find a nice, pretty dress for him…" Aerith said already coming up with snide comments to use on him.

Genesis didn't move due to the shock he was suffering from, Aerith, however, took it as an act of defiance and grabbed his wrist and started to drag him in the direction of Wall Market while saying, "Let's get going already, Miss Rhapsodos!" Aerith called out.

'_Oh HELL no!'_ was all that could be said in Genesis's mind.

* * *

Genesis and Aerith were now both in dresses; Genesis however, required a lot more work. He needed an auburn haired wig, purple dress, fake breasts, sexy perfume, and your average assortment of cosmetics to pass as a woman, which by the way, involved a lot of complaining and cursing. While Aerith just simply needed a red dress and some makeup, which left Zack drooling until she managed to make him stop with a stern glance.

* * *

Cloud and Zack had to stay behind while Genesis and Aerith moved toward the Don's VERY tacky mansion.

When the guards saw them and had the two answer a few questions, they let them in, and the whole time, Zack and Cloud were snickering at Genesis's situation.

When Genesis and Aerith were inside, they were herded downstairs to wait until the Don was ready for them. Needless to say, Genesis was pissed, his current thoughts were…

"If I have to put up with one more person looking at me like that, I will rip their head off!" Genesis growled when he was sure that only Aerith could hear him.

"If you do that, then your cover will be blown, so suck it up and deal with it!" Aerith said annoyed. Genesis actually came close to blowing their cover a few times already; all of them were mainly caused by his disgruntled facial expressions. He barely managed to hide them from the guards and was almost caught a grand total of 5 times now, and the way the guards were looking at him were not helping.

"Think about it this way… you'll only have to put up with this for just a little while longer. Once we interrogate Don Corneo, you can put your usual outfit back on" Aerith said in an attempt at appeasing the pissed off SOLDIER.

"That isn't as comforting as you made it sound, right now, I feel more vulnerable than I ever have before. All I have for a means of protection is my Firaga materia right now because my sword had to be left behind with Zack"

"Well, at least you probably have a newfound respect for women now, since you are now literally walking in a women's shoes" Aerith said, pointing at the high heels that were forced onto Genesis about half an hour ago.

"You don't know the half of it…" Genesis mumbled.

* * *

Once the two made it to the bottom of the stair well, they saw Tifa in a blue dress searching for something, most likely information. Genesis decided to speak up and make his and Aerith's presence known.

"It looks like I was right, you really did only come here to collect information" Genesis said.

Tifa turned around looking like she was caught with her hand stuck in the cookie jar. However, when she saw that it was only Genesis, she sighed in relief, but when she noticed that he was wearing a dress, she burst out laughing like a madwoman. Once she was able to coherently speak again, she asked.

"Why are you here Genesis? And why are you in *hehe* a dress?"

"Shut up Tifa… the only reason I'm doing this is because I lost a three-way rock, paper, scissors contest with Zack, and Cloud. We're here to help you get some information out of the fat bastard"

"Thanks, but you really don't need to do this" Tifa said.

"Nonsense Tifa, do you even know how worried Cloud is for your safety right now?" Aerith asked.

"Is he really that worried, by the way, who are you?" Tifa asked.

"I'm Aerith, Zack's girlfriend, and yes Cloud really is that worried. Chances are that if he lost the contest instead of Genesis here, there probably would have been a lot less complaining and cursing when getting him all prettied up" Aerith said, giggling a little at the end.

"You're probably right there, and I should probably apologize to him next time I see him" Tifa said.

Then the door at the top of the stairs opened and one of the Don's cronies said, "Alright ladies, the Don is waiting, get up here now!"

"Well, let's not keep him waiting, the sooner we get there, the sooner we can interrogate him" Tifa said.

"And the sooner I can get out of this dress…" Genesis complained, only to get an elbow to the gut.

"Quiet! Do you want us to get caught?" Aerith whispered venomously.

'_What happened to the sweet, innocent, flower girl that Zack constantly talked about?'_ Genesis complained inwardly.

* * *

When they met the Don, they all saw just how disgusting he is. He is indeed, as Genesis put it, a fat bastard. He also smelled of tobacco and alcohol, and looked like he was very sticky. All around, he was short and repulsive. He then started to examine them so he could decide.

"Hmmm, which lady should I choose?" he says in front of Tifa, "Nice bosom, athletic legs…" Tifa pretended to be bashful to hide her disgust.

"Or maybe you?" he said looking at Genesis, who by the way, left his face emotionless, "A defiant one aren't you? I actually find that attractive in a woman" Genesis inwardly blanched.

"Or perhaps you?" he said looking at Aerith now, "This one looks completely innocent and untouched by the outside world, marvelous" Aerith just forced herself to give a fake, sweet smile.

The Don returned to his spot in front of his desk to make his decision. After thinking for a minute he made his decision.

"My choice for the evening is… this healthy looking lady!" he said pointing at Genesis.

It took a second for Genesis to register this. When he did, he was internally screaming in horror like a scared woman in a horror movie, while at the same time, internally screaming _'OH HELL NO!!!!!!'_

Then the Don grabbed his wrist and dragged him to his personal chambers… and internally, Tifa and Aerith were laughing hysterically.

* * *

Genesis was now in Don Corneo's… personal quarters. The fat bastard didn't waste any time at all, he immediately laid down on his extremely tacky bed and beaconed Genesis by saying.

"Come on pussy cat! Come to papa!" he said with his arms outstretched.

Genesis's eye visibly twitched as he resisted the urge to burn this man alive with his Firaga materia. Genesis just leaned against the wall and waited for the cavalry to arrive.

Corneo wasn't so patient and started to come on to him in many more ways by saying things like, "I'll never get tired of looking at you" and, "quit teasing me by playing hard-to-get!"

Genesis just kept repeating to himself in his mind, _'Calm down Genesis, ignore the fact that a GUY, is hitting on you!'_

Then the blow that broke the camel's back came when the Don asked for what Genesis deemed as an impossible demand, "Give me a kiss" the Don commanded.

That was it, Genesis had enough; he took off one of his high heels (that lucky foot now felt much better) and threw it at the Don's face. The heel made contact and knocked the Don of Wall Market out cold.

Genesis was pleased with his work and left the room to get Tifa and Aerith to guard the room while he left to get Zack and Cloud to bring their usual outfits to them and knock out some guards.

* * *

An hour passed and the Don was now conscious again only to find three men and two of the women from earlier looking at him menacingly.

"What's going on? Who are you people?! How did you get past my guards?" the Don

Tifa, Aerith, and Genesis were back in their normal clothes and Zack stepped forward to answer his question and then begin the interrogation.

"They all got the sudden urge to take a nap… if you catch my drift. That is the only question that I'll be answering for you. We'll be the ones asking the questions now"

Tifa chose to start, "Why were your men at the bar 7th Heaven?" Tifa said while cracking her knuckles menacingly.

"Tell us" Genesis said while igniting his right hand with his Firaga materia, "or I'll burn it off"

"Burn what off?!" the Don said in a panicked voice.

"Use your imagination…" Genesis said menacingly.

"NO!!!! ANYTING BUT THAT!!! I'LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING!!!" the Don screamed while covering the most precious part of his body… if you catch my drift (hint-hint).

"Then why were they there?" Cloud asked.

"I made them find out the location of a man with a gun-arm! But I was only following orders! I swear!!!"

"Who's orders?" Tifa asked while raising her fist.

"I can't tell you!!!" the Don panicked while sweating like there was no tomorrow, "I'll be killed!!!"

"There are fates much worse than death that we can arrange for you. Now talk… or I'll slice it off" Zack said putting his hand on the hilt of the Buster Sword.

"NO!!! I'LL TELL YOU!!! IT WAS HEIDEGGAR OF SHINRA!!! HEAD OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND MAINTENANCE!!!" the Don screamed.

"Heideggar" both Zack and Genesis spat.

The Don was still scared shitless by the group and was now backed as far as possible away from them against the headboard of his bed, near his secret trapdoor switch. All he had to do was flip the switch when they were over his trapdoor and he'll be home free.

"Does Shinra know where the base is? Talk! Or I'll smash them!" Tifa threatened.

"Shinra knows that the base is in the Sector 7 slums! They haven't pinpointed where it is, but they don't need to either. They've decided to drop the plate to end AVALANCHE! This is all I know! I swear!"

Aerith was appalled by the brutality Shinra was planning, while Tifa was horrified.

"We have to go and warn the others! NOW!" Zack yelled.

"WAIT" the Don ordered.

"What is it now you fat bastard?" Genesis asked, visibly annoyed.

"Just answer this… why do you think a man like me would answer your questions? Is it A.) Because he doesn't want to die, B.) Because he knows he's going to win, or C.) Because he's clueless"

"Because he's clueless" Cloud said, about to head for the door.

"Wrong!" the Don shouted while flipping the switch to the trap door.

Everyone fell, and the trap door was shut before Genesis could fly back up, "The correct answer is B" the Don said while grinning, _'And now to get the hell out of here before I find myself on the executioner's block'_

* * *

**End of Chapter 5**

**Whew… barely finished it on time!**

**Please review, and if possible, give me some expert advice on how to improve my writing.**


	6. The Plate Falls

**Riku: I have finally been hit on the head with the inspiration rock again!**

**Zack: ZZZ… huh? What? Are we back on?**

**Riku: Yep!**

**Zack: FINALLY!!!**

**Genesis: It's about time…**

**Riku: Disclaimer time!**

**Cloud: Riku does not own Final Fantasy VII**

Chapter 6

The Plate Falls

"Ugh… what happened? And why does my head hurt?" Zack groaned to nobody in particular as he slowly woke up with a splitting headache.

"Your head hurts because you landed on it back when the fatso sprang his trapdoor… you also reek because you landed in a sewer, and you were out cold while I had to fight off and kill an enormous sewer gator by myself because everyone else was unconscious" Genesis explained.

"You also carried us out of that sewer too didn't you?" Cloud asked, already on his feet.

"Unfortunately… I would have preferred if I didn't, but I figured that dragging the two of you through all of that sewer muck would be a good way to get revenge on the two of you for all of those snide comments from earlier" Genesis said while pointing out all of the sewer crap that was on both Cloud and Zack while the two of them looked at their clothes with both horror and disgust.

"Well at least he didn't drag us through all of that sewer crap!" Tifa said while Aerith just nodded her head.

"Yeah… lucky you…" Zack retorted while glaring.

"Ahhh… revenge is sweet…" Genesis said as he started walking off in the direction of Sector 7.

"I'm going to get you for this… after we save Sector 7, and I get my clothes and myself disinfected" Zack hissed.

Genesis however, did not hear him, or just simply ignored him as he continued to walk into the Train Graveyard that led to the Sector 7 slums.

* * *

The group finally made it to the Sector 7 slums with the help of Genesis guiding them from above, only to be greeted by the sound of gunfire and scared shouts of horror.

"This is horrible!" Aerith shouted in horror over the scene of pandemonium while the rest of the group, save Zack, went on ahead with Zack staying behind to comfort Aerith.

"You can stay behind if you want, Aerith" Zack said while holding Aerith in an attempt to comfort her.

Aerith then shook her head and said, "N-no… I want to help… I would rather save at least one life while putting myself in danger, then do nothing and stay safe while others die when I could be doing something."

"Alright, Aerith, but you have stay by my side at all times because I don't want you getting shot if I can prevent it, okay?"

Aerith then nodded and said, "Alright."

The two then took off into the pandemonium known as the Sector 7 Slums.

* * *

Cloud and Genesis were taking Shinra infantrymen down left and right while Tifa beat the tar out of the ones that the boys missed. The group of three continued to carve their way through Shinra's ranks until they reached the bar 7th Heaven. They were then greeted by the sight of a mortally wounded Wedge.

"Wedge! What happened?!" Cloud asked.

"… Cloud… is that… you?" Wedge croaked out.

"Yes, it's me, Wedge. Now please tell me what happened."

"Shinra happened… there are… too… many… of…" was all Wedge managed to gasp out before he breathed his last breath.

"He's gone…" Tifa bluntly said while being on the edge of tears, sad that she lost one of her comrades.

"We have to keep moving, staying in one place for too long on a battlefield is not a good idea" Genesis said while walking in the direction of the pillar that held Sector 7 above the slums.

"Genesis is right, Tifa. We have to keep moving" Cloud said to Tifa while placing a comforting hand on Tifa's shoulder.

"Yeah…" Tifa said before just remembering something important and shouting out, "Wait! Who's watching Marlene right now?!"

"We'll get her to safety! Go help Genesis find Barret and stop the plate from falling!" Zack yelled out while darting past them at a speed that Aerith could keep up with.

"Well that solves that problem, now let's go and help Genesis and Barret" Cloud said while lightly tugging on Tifa's shoulder. Tifa then responded by nodding and following Cloud to the pillar that held the plate up.

* * *

Zack and Aerith cut and smashed their way through a few ranks of infantrymen and managed to reach 7th Heaven in one piece. Zack went in first with Aerith close behind and called out, "Marlene! Where are you?!"

He was answered by Marlene popping out from behind the counter and answering, "That you Spiky-Sword Man?"

"Ah! There you are!" Zack said in relief as he ran over to Marlene.

"Are the bad men gone yet?" Marlene asked innocently.

"No, but we are going to get you to a nice, safe place away from them" Aerith said with a sweet smile on her face to comfort Marlene.

"Okay!" Marlene said with a smile on her face.

Zack and Aerith then lead Marlene through the hell known as the Sector 7 slums to Aerith's house, where hopefully, she'll be safe for the time being.

* * *

Things were not going well for Barret at all. He may have Genesis backing him up now, but he can only help with so much now due to the sheer amount of bullets being fired at both of them. Barret is now currently firing a rapid succession of bullets at the helicopters surrounding the pillar while Genesis took to the sky and slashed the propeller blades off of the helicopters, causing them to crash to the ground, killing anyone inside upon impact.

However, whenever a plane is taken down by one of the two, another just replaces it in a few seconds. Annoyed at this, Barret then randomly shouted out, "Oi! Genesis! We're not getting anywhere with this! Whenever we take one down, another one just takes its place!"

"You think I don't know that?! You're the leader here! Come up with a plan or something!" Genesis shouted out while firing a blast of Firaga at another Shinra helicopter.

'_Dammit! I need to think of something quick or Shinra's going to plant a bomb on this pillar and cause the plate to fall! I can't let that happen! Marlene's down there!' _Barret thought while trying to desperately come up with a plan.

* * *

Zack and Aerith managed to get Marlene back to Aerith's house with no trouble at all, and in record time due to Zack's SOLDIER speed. When they did come back, Elmyra noticed them and asked why they were back. They then responded by explaining that Sector 7 is no longer safe due to a portion of what was left of Shinra's army was raiding the place and planning on dropping the plate on it in an attempt to get rid of AVALANCHE, and why they brought Marlene with .

"Those monsters! Is there no limit to what they'll resort to doing to get what they want?!" Elmyra cried out in outrage.

"Probably not, after all, they did throw the majority of their entire army at me just to get rid of me" Zack answered.

"You have a point, but what I want to know now is what you two are planning on doing now. Sector 7 isn't safe anymore, this place won't be much better since Shinra already knows where Aerith lives and where you are most likely to go, Zack. What do you plan on doing now?" Elmyra asked Zack while Aerith showed Marlene the flower garden outside.

"Well… I suppose I'll first get my friends out of the hell now known as Sector 7 before the plate falls" Zack started.

"That's a good start, but you do know that my daughter will probably force you to take her with you" Elmyra pointed out.

"I'll just have to cross that bridge when I get there, but after I save my friends, I suppose we'll just have to go to Kalm to regroup before deciding how to deal with Shinra" Zack finished explaining.

"Well just make sure to take care of Aerith while you're doing that, Zack. I'll never forgive you if she gets hurt mentally or physically because of you" Elmyra said in her 'threatening mother' voice.

"Yes ma'm!" Zack said with a hasty salute before heading to the door.

"Oh, and don't worry, I'll take good care of Marlene while her father is away almost getting killed, _and I'll make sure to give him an earful about how he should be taking care of his daughter when he does show up…_" Elmyra said while mumbling the last part grimly.

"What was that last part?" Zack asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing you need to worry about, Zack. Now go save your friends!" Elmyra said hastily.

"On it!" Zack said while darting for the door.

Zack then left through the door and then ran into Aerith and Marlene, who just so happened to be entering the house at the same time that Zack was leaving. Zack then looked at Marlene and noticed that Aerith made a flower tiara for her, he smiled at the scene and then turned to Aerith and helped her usher an innocently happy Marlene inside before saying, "I'm headed back to Sector 7, I have to save the others."

"I'm going with you, and I'm not even going to give you a choice in the matter, Zack!"

"Aerith, please listen. The plate could fall any minute now! I don't want you to get hurt!" Zack pleaded.

"And that's the same reason why I'm going, Zack! I already lost you once! I don't want to go through that ever again!" Aerith retorted passionately.

Zack sighed, realizing that this was an argument that he knew that he wasn't going to win, "Alright… you win, Aerith, but promise me that you won't leave my side."

"Alright! Promise!" Aerith exclaimed, happy that she won the argument and was going with Zack.

"Then lets… goooo…" Zack trailed off before collapsing and falling unconscious on the ground.

"ZACK!" Aerith shouted out in worry, she then turned Zack onto his back and saw a tranquilizer dart sticking out of his shoulder. Aerith gasped before asking, "Who did this?"

"That would be me" Rude claimed while stepping into the front yard with Tseng right behind him.

"What do you want, Rude? Why did you shoot Zack?" Aerith spat while glaring at both of them.

"This is strictly business, Aerith. Please, don't make this any harder than it has to be. Orders are orders, and you know that a Turk can't defy an order when it's given out" Tseng said.

"Then bend the rules, Tseng! I know that Zack is one of your friends, regardless of whatever you'll say to deny it!" Aerith demanded and pointed out while standing in front of Zack protectively.

"Aerith, I know that you're upset with this-"

"Oh, and what gave you that impression!" Aerith interrupted sarcastically.

"-but our orders are only to capture you and Zack… Shinra however, never said that we couldn't secretly orchestrate an escape plan…" Tseng finished.

"So you're just going to capture us and then set us free? Make up your mind already, Tseng! Whose side are you on?!" Aerith asked in a tone of voice that was slowly rising in anger.

"I wish that I could be on your side, but sadly, a Turk's duty is absolute, when I'm given a job I have to complete it to the letter. Please, just come quietly and I'll help you and Zack escape at the first chance I have. Don't make me resort to using physical force, because I will if I have to."

Aerith then looked down in defeat, fully knowing that she wasn't strong enough to beat Tseng and Rude by herself, "Fine… you win…"

* * *

Cloud and Tifa were now running as fast as they could up the stairway to the top of the pillar that held up Sector 7. While they were on their way to the top, the reception they had at the pillar was not anything they wanted to see. At the very bottom, they saw Biggs breathe his last breath before dying, trying to say something and halfway up the stairs, they ran into Jessie as well. She was mortally wounded and slowly dying as well, she died telling Cloud and Tifa that she was glad to have met them and the rest of AVALANCHE. Both Cloud and Tifa were shaken up by the sudden loss of their comrades, but continued to press on anyway for the sake of everyone in the Sector 7 Slums. The two then eventually reached the top of the pillar and found Barret firing rapidly at helicopters up above, and Genesis slashing at the helicopters in midair, forcing a good portion of them to retreat.

"'Bout time you showed up!" Barret shouted out above the sound of bullets being fired.

"We haven't made any progress at all, whenever we manage to take one down, another one takes its place" Genesis said calmly as he descended onto the platform.

"That's because Shinra is that serious about getting rid of you guys" a voice said from behind them.

The group then turned around quickly and saw a messy red-haired Turk that was recognized as Reno with an EMR rod in his right hand standing in front of what looks like a time bomb.

"Tch, figures Shinra would send a Turk to do something as dirty as this" Cloud remarked as he drew his Hardedge sword.

"If I were you, I'd be more concerned about trying to find a way out of here instead of little old me. I'd say you guys only have about 7 minutes until this time bomb goes off" Reno drawled while clumsily pointing his EMR rod at the group.

"I guess we'll just have to defeat you and disarm that bomb then won't we?" Genesis said.

"Ha! Good luck with that! The only people that know how to do that would be the higher ups in Shinra! Oh, and by the way, you now have 6 minutes left now!" Reno scoffed.

"Let's just kick this F#*%'n Turk's ass and then take things from there!" Barret cursed while aiming his gun arm at Reno.

"No complaints here" Tifa agreed while cracking her knuckles menacingly while Cloud and Genesis just nodded.

"Whoa, whoa! Wait a second! Four against one? Now how exactly is that fair?" Reno said while trying to buy time.

"Well Shinra doesn't play fair, so why the hell should we?" Barret countered.

"Good point… alright then…" Reno said before darting at Cloud. Reno first tried to knock Cloud unconscious by clocking him with his EMR, which was blocked by Cloud's sword. Reno was then punched in the side by Tifa, causing him to recoil into the pillar wall. Reno then noticed that Barret was about to open fire on him, so he took cover on the other side of the pillar, just barely dodging Barret's lethal barrage of bullets. Reno was then about to attack again when he was then stabbed in the right shoulder. He then looked up and saw Genesis looking down at him in contempt while he removed his sword from Reno's shoulder and said, "I believe that this is the end of the line for you, Turk."

"Oh, but this is just the beginning…" Reno said as he limped toward the railing and fell off. The rest of the group then moved to where Reno fell and saw that Reno was now holding onto a ladder attached to a helicopter that was quickly ascending.

"Better luck next time, oh, and it looks like we have two of your friends with us as well" Reno said while Aerith managed to poke her head out and yelled out, "Cloud! Tifa! Don't worry! Marlene's alright! I got her to my mother's house!"

Before she could say any more however, Tseng pulled her back in and addressed the group by saying, "If you wish to survive this and help your friends, you'd better get out of here first. I'd say you still have a good 2 minutes left before the bomb goes off. You'd better get moving."

The helicopter then took off, leaving the group of 4 by itself.

"Dammit! They got away!" Barret yelled out.

"We'd better take that Turk's advice and get out of here now!" Cloud said from his position right next to the bomb.

"Cloud is right, both of us have tried to disarm this bomb, but it is far too complex for either of us to figure out. We have to leave now" Genesis said.

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Barret asked.

"We can use this!" Tifa said while pointing to a thick electrical line that connected the pillar to the edge of the sector.

"Then we'd better use it and get out now! You can go first, Tifa" Cloud said.

"Alright, but you'd better be right behind me!" Tifa said while grabbing some loose material that she could use to make a makeshift zip-line.

"Don't worry; I'll be right behind you" Cloud assured while Tifa prepared her makeshift zip-line.

"You'd better!" Tifa said sternly right before sliding down the electrical line.

"So who's next?" Genesis asked.

"Me" Cloud said while placing his sword just over the line and then grabbing the other edge of his sword with his left hand while his right hand was on the hilt. "Here goes nothing!" Cloud shouted as he left Barret and Genesis behind.

"Well how am I supposed to use this now?" Barret asked.

"Why don't you use that gun arm of yours the same way Cloud used his sword? Now if you excuse me, I must be going. I'd rather not get caught in the blast that's about to go off in the next 30 seconds…" Genesis advised while unfurling his black wing and then taking off.

Barret then took Genesis's advice and just barely made it out of Sector 7 in once piece seconds before the bomb went off, causing the plate to fall.

* * *

**Author: Sorry this took so long! This part wasn't exactly the easiest to type. I just kept on typing and then deleting and then typing…**

**Zack: We get it!**

**Author: Sorry…**

**Cloud: Anyway, please review before we get Genesis to start chanting excerpts from LOVELESS to all the non-reviewers out there over and over. It really gets annoying after a few minutes. He'll just keep doing it until you review!**

**Genesis: 'My soul, corrupted by vengeance...'  
**


End file.
